Team USA Olympic swimmers tune up at Stanford; Five of 10 horses go clean in show jump test

While I was away at the (Oregon) track, Kentuckians made quite a splash in Nebraska’s waters.

Elaine Breeden (Lexington) won the U.S. Olympic Trials 200-meter butterfly and placed second in the 100 ‘fly. Also making the team, as part of the 4-x-200 relay, is Caroline Burckle (Louisville).

I spoke with Elaine today (July 12), via phone from Stanford University. That’s where Elaine just completed her sophomore year. Stanford also is home base for the Olympic swim team.

She says training is going well and she is focused on swimming well at Beijing. Her parents, Dan and Lenore, as well as sisters Kathleen and Caroline will travel to China’s “Water Cube” for Elaine’s races.

For the full interview, stay tuned to The Herald-Leader.

Meanwhile, an alert reader noted that Saturday (July 5) preliminary results from the Swim Trials were missing from at least one edition of the paper. That effectively cut out some noteworthy Kentucky results.

So, with apologies for being tardy, here’s what went down that session:

Nick Graves (Lexington), seeded 16th, moved up to 14th in the men’s 1,500 meters with a time of 15:31.58. Nick, out of Sayre High School, swims for Wildcat Aquatics and Florida State University.

Also in the 1,500, placing 23rd, was Clark Burckle (Louisville), Caroline’s brother. His time: 15:38.15.

The women’s 50-meter freestyle prelims included University of Kentucky twins Jenny and Heather Bradford. Jenny touched in 25.73 seconds, good for 21st. Heather, in 26.24, finished 54th.

3-Day Event hopefuls complete final test

At Norwood, N.C., Saturday (July 12), 10 of the 15 horses on the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s short list for Eventing competed in a mandatory show jump outing. Five other horses are preparing in England.

Rider and horse combinations with clean rounds over the Fork Stables course were: Phillip Dutton and Connaught (the winning combination in the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park); Bonnie Mosser with Merloch; Buck Davidson aboard BallyNoe Castle RM (a.k.a. Reggie); Jennifer Wooten on The Good Witch; and Becky Holder atop Courageous Comet.

Dressage and cross country trials were held Friday.

The U.S. Olympic Event team will be named Monday.